From the Pages of History
by Musing Soul
Summary: 'Chrom had a unique talent for finding people asleep in fields it seemed. This time, however, he found someone entirely different. Someone from the pages of history. And, for all my vaunted knowledge, I have no clue how, or why, they are here.' -Robin, Tactician of House Ylisse
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So…welcome to a weird little side project of mine. This developed out of a conversation with Aura of Twilight (who is genuinely awesome), and well, the results are before you. This story is either going to be in three or six parts….depending on exactly how I decide to divide it up.**

 **Standard Disclaimer: None of this stuff is mine. Wish it was, but sadly, tis not.**

"You seem to have a unique talent there Chrom." The voice was not one I familiar with. I groaned, and opened one eye, only to rapidly close it again, due to the beating sun.

It was at that moment that realization sank in. I was not sleeping in my bed. The grass I was laying on, at least I assumed it was grass, was reasonably soft at least. The ground beneath was hard, but nothing that I was truly unused to. A few different wars had left me without much issue sleeping just about anywhere, so the sleeping on grass was not cause for alarm, but my lack of memory as to how I got here was.

"Oh stuff it." This voice was male, and seemed rather exasperated with the situation. I blinked my eyes open again.

"Mom's right!" This voice was close to the first voice, and seemed far too cheerful. "You do have a talent for it."

Three people stood over me. Two of them were obviously related, with matching long, dark purple hair, and angular, but alluringly beautiful faces. Sharp grey eyes surveyed me. The rest of the two woman was obscured by long purple cloaks, stitched in intricate runes, and waving about in the slight breeze.

They flanked a man wearing the garb of a nobleman, if only one sleeve. An elaborate tattoo was upon his bared shoulder, and a familiar hilt adorned his hip.

"Good morning!" The younger of the two woman smiled at me as I opened my eyes and slowly sat up. "I can't imagine that was a terribly good sleep."

"Morgan!" The other woman, chided. "Be nice." She turned to me, with a relatively warm expression and guarded eyes. "I apologize for waking you." She gave a slight bow.

"It is no trouble." I frowned, looking about. A green field stretched outwards, in the distance, a small forest, and a town. With a sinking feeling, it was becoming apparent that I had no clue where I was. "If you don't mind, I appear to be rather lost. If you could give me some idea where I am, I would appreciate it."

All three of them exchanged looks. The youngest, Morgan gave a brief nod, and vanished in a twirl of lightening and magic. The man gave a bit of a long suffering sign, as if I had said something that he had heard a thousand times before.

"Of course." He told me, offering a hand. I accepted it, standing slowly, and then jumping when something thumped against my leg. Glancing down, I realized that Falchion was at my hip, making me frown. Even during the war, I did not sleep _wearing_ my sword. "My name is Chrom. This is Robin, my advisor, tactician, and friend." The aforementioned woman gave me a nod, her hands vanishing into the cloak that surrounded her.

"It is a pleasure to meet you." I replied. "I am Marth."

The look the two of them exchanged was one dry amusement, and exasperation.

* * *

"That date means nothing to me." Only two hours later, I found myself sitting across from Robin in a tent, eating breakfast, and feeling very confused. The name of the continent I was on, Ylisse, did not ring any bells, and the date even less. Robin seemed utterly unsurprised by that, which I found odd.

"Grima damnit." The woman leaned forwards, rubbing her temples, expression blank, and I was rapidly coming to understand that she was feeling very frustrated with someone, or something, aside from me.

"Grima damnit?" I asked, between bites of food. Whoever the cook was, they were fantastic, and I made a mental note to determine who it was, and thank them. This time, Robin did give me a strange look, which was replaced by a tired expression, before sighing.

"Grima damnit" She repeated. "Naga as well." Leaning back in her chair, Robin considered me. "It seems we need to have a long conversation." Her lips curled in amusement, however it did not reach her eyes.

I frowned. "Why?" I asked. The amusement in her expression struck me as bitter. It seemed to me that all that had happened was I teleported off somewhere, perhaps by Gotoh, or someone else with less savory.

Robin's eyes gleamed. "Based upon what I know, and have learned, and can extrapolate, you have ended up more than two thousand years into what would be your future."

My heart skipped a beat. "What?" I spluttered. Robin expression remained deathly serious, leading me to believe she was not joking. "How? What?" I spluttered, unable to really wrap my head around the idea. Two thousand years into the _future_? Was that even possible?

"I have no idea how, precisely, and even less as to why." That drew a bit of a sigh out of her. "Which is frustrating. I have asked Morgan to see if Lucina can drag answers out of Naga, who might know." She paused, and my eyes widened, the realization sinking in.

"Naga. As in the Divine Dragon Naga." I repeated. What? Someone communing with Naga? Even did Tiki couldn't do that, so far as I knew.

Robin gave a sharp nod, not even a bit of the motion wasted, which suited her well. "The very same. She is a bit of a bitch, at least to me." Here, another bitter sweet smile crossed her face. "And even moreso to my daughter." So, I was right. Morgan was Robin's daughter. That was good to know, I supposed. Or, at least, explained the visual similarities. "I have made inquiries of the Spirit of Grima, although he called me some less than savory things in the process, but seems clueless."

The amount of information left me reeling. "Who is Grima?" I demanded, not knowing the name. "How can anyone commune with the Gods? Even the greatest of holy men can't do that?" I tried to form more questions but my lips just sort of flapped uselessly.

Robin remained quiet, patiently waiting until I stopped, slumping into the chair, my breakfast forgotten. When I stilled, she leaned forwards, her expression less cold, and eyes sad.

"The relationship we have with Naga is very different than what existed for you." Robin sighed, shaking her head. "Why don't I leave you to finish eating, and then you can come back to the Capitol with us, and we can explain more, and hopefully, I will have more answers for you."

I considered, before nodding. Her proposal was a good one, I supposed. None of us had information. Robin stood, and for a moment, that wall that she seemed to keep up dropped, and her expression became a bit more compassionate, a bit more human.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry." She seemed to want to say more, but settled for just slipping from the tent, her cloak flapping behind her.

* * *

The journey to the north crossed many more fields, and rolling hills. As we rode, I watched Robin and Chrom closely, Morgan having departed already.

They were close friends, that much was obvious by the way that Robin would gently rib Chrom, or the way that he seemed to exist inside of the shell, projected to the outside world, as though to insulate himself from something. Chrom, however, was not Morgan Father, I suspected, although at this point it was not something I could easily prove either way. What was telling, however was the interactions the two of them had with the ordinary people we encountered.

Both Robin and Chrom seemed to be regarded as heroes by the people we encountered. Neither seemed terribly comfortable with that title, but the people almost worshiped the ground the duo walked on. Robin seemed less comfortable with this than Chrom, who seemed to take it more in stride, but was none the less obviously uncomfortable with being fawned over. However, they both would always talk to the people we encountered, listen to their problems, and occasionally Robin's hands would glow with magic, offering a little bit of help to the people. On these occasions, the people would smile, and cheer, and Robin would always wearing this expression of great discomfort with her situation.

On occasion they would speak of a group they referred to the as the Shepherds, telling the people tales of heroic deeds by other warriors. The people always seemed to bring up references to heroic and great battles that Robin had commanded, or evil men Chrom had slain. Once, when a group of excited children asked Chrom about slaying a man named Walhart, his face had gone just a bit ashen. Robin too, looked askance, her hands drifting inside her cloak, the only obvious sign of her discomfort I had seen yet.

As we left the village, I asked about what had happened.

"There are some people that did not deserve the fate we were forced to enact upon them." Robin's words were toneless, devoid of even the chill I had almost come to associate with her in the short time since I awoke.

I frowned, but did not press the question. It was obviously a sore subject for them both, and I had more than enough memories of that nature, to think pressing the issue was wise.

Chrom, as it turned out, was the Lord of these lands, which explained his introduction of Robin, as an advisor and tactician. I watched him sigh in frustration as his soldiers bowed to him, and gently admonish them that no such gesture was required. A brief flash of relief that I was not the only one who had such problems filled me the first time I bore witness to such an event. Another pang filled my chest, as I realized I might never see my soldiers, my people, again. I caught Robin's gaze, and looked away, trying to hide the lump in my throat. I suspected the woman knew.

* * *

"See! I told you!" Morgan's delighted cackle filled the air, as I found myself surrounded by a group of people that was as boisterous as it was eclectic. Robin's daughter capered about, her face alight with manic glee. I tried my best to focus on that, and not on the constant barrage of questions that assailed me. My ears pounded, and I could feel my heartrate build.

"Alright enough!" Suddenly, everything was silent. Heads snapped around, and I even found my gaze drawn in the direction of the speaker.

A young woman, her hair matching Chrom's strode into the room, moving with the same precise air of the man I assumed to be her father. Calm blue eyes swept across the room.

"Hi Lucina!" Morgan bounded over to the new arrival, the only person not struck silent by the command. The now named Lucina gave Morgan a glance before addressing the room at large.

"Let the man breathe, for Naga's sake." She reprimanded a bit. "I thought Father asked you all to leave him alone anyways?"

Sheepish looks flashed across the group, who backed off, muttering apologies. As they did, I pushed back my emotions, realizing with a start that Lucina looked very similar to me, in terms of dress. I vaguely recalled Robin making some remark about how Chrom's daughter had apparently been bitten by fate, or some such, but without context, I had ignored it.

"Prince Marth." Lucina gave me a short incline of her head. "If you would follow me, Father and Robin would like to talk to you." Giving the woman a bit of a forced smile, I nodded. Lucina turned, striding from the room.

Morgan followed, her presence only noticeable due to the swooshing of her cloak. "Sorry about them." Lucina's voice was soft, and metered, giving the impression that she gave great consideration to her words. Her expression, at least what I could see of it, was drawn fairly tight, almost from frustration. "I know they mean well but meeting all of the Shepherds can be…" This time, she faltered over her words.

"Overwhelming." Morgan filled in without pause. "Lucina had it easy." There was good natured ribbing to that. The aforementioned girl shrugged.

"If you call explaining our situation to my Father and your Mother easy." Was the immediate reply. I got the sense this was an old argument between the two.

"I suspect I am missing something." I observed, making both young woman chuckle.

"Hopefully Mother has a way to send you home, and you never have to find out." Morgan's tone was serious, which seemed off based for the previously flighty young woman. I caught the tension in Lucina's eyes at those words however.

Lucina already knew what Robin was going to tell me, I realized. I didn't know how Lucina knew, but Lucina knew. And it wasn't news that Lucina liked. My heart clenched. Somewhere deep down, the realization that I wasn't going home started to form. There wasn't really another explanation.

The rest of the walk happened in silence, and I found myself gripping the pommel of my Falchion tightly.

At last, we stopped before a plain, unadorned office door, which Lucina pushed open without knocking. Inside, at a desk that was absolutely covered in papers, maps, and various other items was Robin, she was pouring over a vast tome that was easily visible over the piles around it, even from a distance. At our entry, she looked up, expression curiously blank.

"Lucina. Morgan. Marth." She greeted each of us in turn. Lucina stepped into the room, slipping around the desk with an ease of long practice to not disturb the many precariously piled items on and around it, and took a seat on the arm of Robin's chair. Morgan meanwhile moved to stand a window relatively near the corner. I took the room's only chair, finding myself surprised by how comfortable it was.

Robin seemed to take a moment to consider what to say. I spoke up first.

"You can't send me back can you? Back home." I asked.

Their faces told all. Lucina's expression didn't change. Morgan's eyes went sad. Robin's jaw tightened.

"Naga doesn't know how you arrived. Neither does Grima." Robin sighed. "Without any idea how you got here, we don't have a way to send you home." There was a pause. "Or any clue how far in time you might have been displaced."

Even though I had been ready for this answer, I still wasn't. My vison swam for a moment, as I forgot to breathe. The Falchion hummed beneath my hand, but I didn't find comfort in that.

I was alone. That realization was slow to sink in.

I was alone, stuck in a strange place, surrounded by heroes of near mythic status in this land. I was a legend to these people, larger than life even by the myths that seemed to surround these Shepherds. I was even more alone than at home, where at least I had my friends. Here, I had nothing.

Again, my eyes swam. Hot tears threatened to spill, and I didn't fight them.

* * *

I had been in Ylisse three weeks. I had slept well only half those days, and eaten probably less. They were subtle, but I felt the concerned gazes of Robin and Chrom on occasion. A few of the Shepherds would come and talk to me on occasion. Mostly though, they just left me alone.

I was alone. That was the reality of this situation. I was alone. I had no connection to anyone here, and sometimes it seemed the inevitable wall that had separated me from many back at home existed here. Everyone in that group had suffered through hell together, and that bound them tighter than blood ever could. Few bonds could exceed those forged in the crucible of war. That was something I knew from experience.

Glancing up at the stars, I sighed. Logically, I knew I should go inside, out of the cold. Maybe eat something, or maybe sleep.

"What the hell are you doing up here?" The voice wasn't one I recognized, and I turned a bit to eye the speaker.

Her name, I knew, was Severa. Morgan would occasional complain to me about her, complete with the sort of over the top hand gestures and exaltations I had come to expect from Robin's exceptionally strange daughter. Conversation with Robin herself shed a bit more light, but comparatively little.

"I'm watching the stars." I replied. Severa snorted, glaring at me.

"You're an awful liar." She declared, moving to stand over me. "At least put some effort into your lies." I could see why Morgan got frustrated, as that sort of attitude was rather abrasive.

"I suppose I shouldn't ask what brings you up here then." I challenged, not wanting to discuss what I was doing on the castle roof at midnight. Severa sat down, glare at me.

"God." She muttered. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to tell you." To my surprise, I realized there were tears in her eyes. A silence lapsed between us, as I was willing to wait for her to talk. "Nightmares." She mumbled eventually.

I frowned. Nightmares? For a group that I got the impression had all but walked into hell, I suspected the average run of the mill nightmare would not be cause for disappearing onto the roof. Brief flashes of my own night terrors rose up, the snarling visage of the Dark Dragon as he towered above us, my own screaming when my companions died, only to awaken moments later.

"From your war." The words more closely resembled a statement then a question, but she nodded none the less.

"Yeah." A bitter smile crossed her face. "It's been a while, and yet, the still happen." The bitterness drifted into her tone as well. "I don't understand how I can be so weak."

That made me frown. How did having nightmares make her weak? It had been over a decade since my last war, but on occasion the dreams still came back, especially in the days before I had ended up here.

"The nightmares don't make you weak Severa." I replied at length. She turned, eyes flashing, a snarl of anger on her face. "They don't." My voice was firmer. "It's been ten years since my last war, and I still will wake up screaming on occasion. The sight of Medeus flashed behind my eyes, and I shivered. "There is nothing wrong with having them." I felt a bit of my own bitterness creep in. "It's only human."

Severa stared at me, her expression inscrutable. Uncomfortable, I returned my focus to the stars above. "You sound like Robin and Morgan." She observed after some time. "To wise for your own good." A long sigh escaped her. "Although that makes sense I guess."

A quick glance told me she had taken her focus elsewhere. "And what does that mean." I asked, feeling genuinely curious. Severa shrugged.

"Morgan says that we all have adapted to the hell we lived through different means. Lucina throws herself into protecting others, and hides all her emotions behind that barrier even her own sister barely gets through. Nah just grew up too fast, Yarne lives in fear of his own shadow. Inigo womanizes, Owain has his high fantasy, and theatrics." Her gaze swept out over the city. "Cynthia refuses to let go of her childish ideals of heroism, because it lets her believe that somehow, someway, things will get better. That we can fix it." My heart clenched, and I remembered something Robin had said once, during one of my conversations with her about the people I found myself surrounded by.

 _They were just children Marth, when their world ended. They were just children, fighting against a god, fighting for their very survival, because that was the only option they were presented. They could either fight, or they could die. And they chose to live, and now they pay the price._

Severa kept talking, her head bowing a bit. "I…I just push everyone away." She shook her head. "Push and push and push and push, until one by one, they all back off, and leave me alone, to wallow in my own misery." I almost spoke up, but decided against it, content to just wait for her to finish. She seemed to need to get this off her chest. "I'm the only one who should have to deal with my own problems, no one else needs to get dragged down with me." There was a silence. "So why do they keep fucking trying!" She almost screamed the last part, as if forgetting I was there.

Again, memories rose, of my wife, then fiancé, demanding to know what was bothering me, and refusing to take no for an answer. I remembered her decisive statement that, I couldn't keep everything bottled up forever. That I needed someone to lean on, and although I refused to repeat her exact words, the point that she intended to be that person was conveyed well.

"Because they care about you." My voice drifted across the utterly still night, startling even me. "Someone once told me, in explicit and quite certain terms, that I could not bottle all my fears, my regrets, and worries up inside forever." Tears started to form in my eyes, as I was reminded of her. I could still recall every detail of it all. "I suspect that is what they are trying to show you Severa. That they care. That they don't want to see you fall down a path I suspect Robin and Morgan walked for a long time."

As I spoke, Severa seemed to grow angry, until I mentioned Robin and Morgan. That, it seemed to get her attention. "What do you mean?" She demanded. "A path you suspect Robin and Morgan walked?"

Taking a deep breath, I sat up. "How many people actually know Morgan on a personal level?" I asked. The question, I was surprised to discover, made Severa pause.

"Three maybe?" She paused. "It's hard to say with Morgan. She's never been very forthright about wanting to associate with other people, and she tends to be a bit cold, behind the way she acts in public." Severa's eyes narrowed. "Why?"

Instead of answering I asked a second question. "And how recent a development was that? I'm willing to bet my sword-arm that it wasn't until recently that Morgan formed any sort of emotional connection with anyone."

"Yes." Severa paused. "How do you know that?"

My chuckle had no mirth. "I've lived through two wars Severa." I paused, considering. "I've read the histories of me that you have, and they are woefully incomplete, and sometimes flat out inaccurate…. Two wars leaves a lot of scars on someone, and for a long time I didn't let anyone in. I did what Morgan, Robin and you do. I bottled everything up, didn't let others see. I ran from my nightmares, dodged my fears, and plowed ahead under a façade of surety, and self-confidence."

Severa seemed to sense something in my tone, for I had her rapt attention. "And?" She prompted.

I turned away, looking up to the stars, watching the way they would wink, and flicker. "Someone called my bluff." I whispered. "And it all came crashing down, in a ball of fire, blood and death." Memories continued to dance behind my eyes. "And then someone I didn't deserve picked me up again."

Thoughts of her danced through my head, and I found myself wishing I didn't have those memories any longer. They had been painful enough then, and were only worse now. "You aren't up here because of nightmares, are you?" I probed a bit, at length. Severa jerked.

"No." She whispered. "I'm not."

I didn't ask further questions. If she wanted to talk, she would talk. I didn't offer more advice either. If she wanted that, she had but to ask.

* * *

I didn't find out what actual brought Severa to the roof of the castle every so often that night, or even the next time. I still didn't eat much, and slept little. Robin still gave me worried glances. I kept to myself. It was better that way. That way, I didn't have to remember, and I didn't have to live with an illusion of inclusion, and return to loneliness after that.

I spent the nights I didn't sleep watching the stars. They were the same stars as back home, I knew. Memories of many a night under those stars flashed behind my eyes, and I felt tears start to form. I remembered, against my own will, so many things. The little details. The way her lips curved as she smiled, the musical tone of her voice, the warmth of her skin when I woke, my own limbs clammy from my dreams.

A muffled sob broke me from my musings. I glanced around. Severa didn't sob, I knew from experience. She raged. So whoever this wasn't, it wasn't Severa. The sound of footsteps grew.

A head of hair the same color as Lucina and Chrom's appeared, followed by a thin young woman, her face blotched with tears and rage. It was readily apparent she did not see me, as she started shouting profanity at the stars.

"Why is she such a bitch! And why do I even care!" Was the first portion I managed to understand.

"Cynthia?" I guessed at her name, based upon the time and the ranting. The young woman jumped, whirling about with a shriek of surprise.

"M-Marth! I…I..um…" She trailed off, and just sort of collapsed in a heap on the roof. After a moment of considering, I decided against approaching her. Like all of the other children, as their group was known, Cynthia was picky about being touched, and could react rather violently when surprised. Another of the many scars left by their war.

"I'm sorry!" She exploded after a moment.

She was sorry? "You have nothing to apologize for." I replied, keeping my voice level. "Everyone needs to vent once in a while." She looked up and me, tears reflected by the moonlight.

"I…" She fumbled for words.

For a long time, I considered whether or not to pry. Although I talked rarely with much of anyone, I did occasionally converse with the Shepherds enough to know that Severa and Cynthia, if not a couple, were very close, and I had put enough pieces together to have my guess why Severa actually appeared on the room at night.

"It hurts, being told that you aren't needed, doesn't it?" I asked after a long time. Cynthia flinched.

"How do you know?" She muttered, turning away.

"An educated guess." I admitted. "I've never been in your shoes," I went on, "but I've been in hers." Cynthia's head turned slightly. "I spent a long time trying to keep people out. To keep them safe." I paused. "When you're in that mindset, I don't think you can realize that people really do care, that they want the best for you, and that they can, and will, help." I shivered, remembering something of the things I had said in my attempts to protect those around me. They called me Hero King. I was no hero, I knew. "This isn't the first time you two have fought, is it?" I asked.

Cynthia paused, glaring at me a bit. "You're worse than Morgan and Lucina put together." She paused. "No, it isn't. It's just the worst. She was being a jerk and….and…Then it just kept going."

My gaze turned to the stars once more. It wasn't especially a surprise, to me. In the weeks before _she_ and I had finally had it out, and we had fought more and more. We were not a perfect couple, as I knew the stories liked to claim. We fought, just like anyone else, and we had our differences, but we reconciled them, we worked them out, and we moved forwards. Our marriage had been a good one, even for its- rocky start.

"And before either of you know what's really going on, your screaming at each other that you don't need each other, that the other one is a selfish bitch, and can go jump off a cliff." I surmised, quoting myself. Cynthia nodded, her tearstained cheeks gleaming in the moonlight.

"Yup." She nodded a bit, more tears starting to flow. I sighed. Why was it always me? I asked myself with a sigh. Why me?

"And now you're mad at her for what she said, mad at yourself for what you said, and just a generalized mess." Again she nodded. "It isn't my place to interfere, really," I began, "But I'm going to speak from a bit of experience." Cynthia nodded again. "Go talk to her. Not now, wait until morning." The young woman looked up, surprise written across her face. "I don't know any of you very well, but I'm reasonably sure she just as mad at herself as you are at her. And talk to her." Cynthia opened her mouth, and I forestalled her question. "And you have to listen too. A relationship, as a late friend of mine told me, is a two way street. You both have to try, and work together, but the reward is worth all the trails in the middle." I paused, watching the stars twinkle. "Severa cares for you a great deal, Cynthia, as evidence by the fact she tries so damn hard to get rid of you, speaking from experience."

The young woman gave a miserable nod, and I leaned forwards, looking her in the eye. "Nothing worth doing is ever easy. Apologize, and talk to each other. And listen." I paused. "And do Morgan a favor, and find a soundproof room, you know?"

Cynthia turned red as a tomato as my implication sunk in. "Marth!" She exclaimed, arms flailing. For the first time in days, I gave a dry chuckle. "You jerk!" I could at least see a bit of mirth returning to her eyes.

"I'll leave you be now." I stood, bowing a little, before I slipped down the stairs, my head pounding. Memories assailed me, the good, the bad, and everything in between. I wasn't sure where I was walking, at that point, just wanted to be away. Away from people, from anything that might remind me of _her_ of nights under the stars, of the curses on my lips, of regrets, of being _cold._

At some point, I collapsed in a corner, my tears finally breaking out, flowing down my cheeks.

I was alone. I had finally gotten that angry teenage wish. I was alone. And now that I was, I wanting nothing more than to not be any long. I wished I didn't wake up cold, screaming any more. I wished I was back home, where I at least had some shoulders to lean on. For an irrational moment, I wished I was with _her_ again, no matter what that took. I shuddered, hearing the mocking laughter of the Dark Dragon in my ears. Gharnef's dying curses echoing behind that.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, as I stumbled into the Shepherds breakfast, I was relieved to see Severa and Cynthia leaning on each other. Dropping into a seat at the far end of the table, I was surprised was Chrom and his wife sat next across from me.

"Thank you." Sumia spoke after a bit of silence passed. I jerked, not expecting either of them to speak.

"Whatever for?" My voice was hoarse. What did they have to thank me for? Chrom's lips quirked, and his head shook a little bit.

"For our daughter's happiness." Sumia explained. "No one has been able to get through to her and Severa, until you." I shook my head. I hadn't done anything. I didn't want to have done anything. Those memories were too painful after all.

"I didn't do anything." I protested, causing Sumia to roll her eyes a bit. I refocused on my food, trying to eat at a slow, normal pace.

"Then thank you for doing nothing." Sumia replied. "This is the first time in a month I have seen my daughter happy." I glanced at Cynthia and Severa. Sumia's daughter was practically asleep on Severa's shoulder.

"Actually it's been longer than that." This time it was Nah, a manakete, who I had spoken to only once. She seem far too old for her years, as I saw it. "Lucina has been near her wits end over it. She and Robin have argued about it."

"So is that why they've been so loud lately?" Inigo dropped down beside Nah with a plat of his own. "Make-up sex?"

"Really?" Nah glared at her compatriot. "Can you be mature for once?" The words were scathing. The young man shrugged.

Several others laughed, adding in their own good natured ribbing. And before I knew it, I too had been dragged into conversation.

* * *

The weeks drug on, and I found myself joining in the occasional sparing match, usually to the jubilation of the various guards who, while ignorant of my true identity, knew I was an expert swordsman, and loved to bet on the outcomes.

In truth, I enjoyed crossing blades with the Shepherds. Of them, few were truly my equal with the blade, the exceptions being Robin and Lucina, who seemed to have no equals besides Chrom. Nothing had surprised me more than that first day I spar with Robin. Her garb and mannerism had suggested tremendous skill in the magical arts, and I had seen her cast plenty of magic, but never seen her with a blade, although I soon realized the bulge under that cloak that I took for a tome or pouch was in fact her sword. Our first spar, she had calmly taken her stance, and proceeded to make a fool of me, in under five minutes.

Chrom later told me that lasting that long against her was incredible, and that I had defied the expectations of everyone. Later, after watching Chrom hold Robin at bay for some time, and Robin then dismantle several other Shepherds, I had to concede the woman was just flat better than me at that point. Watching Lucina defeat Robin was the most awe inspiring though.

As I had been told, for a while, Lucina had traveled under an alias of my name, which, after seeing her fight, left me feeling a bit flattered, and even more amazed. Morgan said that Lucina trained so hard to live up to borrowing my name, and the results showed.

I had shaken my head and remarked she had far exceeded me already. Morgan just laughed.

Often, after such days, I found myself regaled with stories of their war, of Robin and Chrom dueling the Mad King Gangrel, which varied depending on who told it. If you listened to Robin and Chrom, it was a harrowing duel, which pushed them to the limits. If you asked Vaike, Chrom got trounced, and Robin won it all. Sumia described it much as Chrom and Robin did, while some of Nowi made it sound like Gangrel had been all but hacked to pieces in a decisive battle. Every Shepherd told it just a bit different, but, I could recall my own comrades slight doctoring the stories as the time went.

I still kept apart from them, most of the time. Sometimes, I swore there was someone watching me in the shadows, but I could never prove a thing, and always gave up when I tried to search and came up empty.

Panting a bit from exertion, I sheathed Falchion, deciding I had worked myself the bone enough for one day. Wiping sweat from my brow, I paused to catch my breath.

"Coming Marth?" Cynthia dropped out of the sky, her Pegasus tossing its regal head with displeasure at having to land.

"Hm?" I gave her a questioning stare. Despite spending more time with the group, I still felt a bit like an outsider, leading me too often miss the subtle cues between them. Cynthia giggled.

"For a fly silly!" She replied. "Daddy wants to see you or something. Or maybe it was Robin, I dunno. Morgan didn't say." I rolled my eyes, but allowed Cynthia to drag me atop her Pegasus and take off.

Perhaps two weeks ago, such a thing would have brought a rush of memories that would have brought me to my knees. Now, although my heart clenched at the memories of flying with _her_ I was able to prevent the tears from forming.

We alighted atop the castle, where Cynthia dropped me off, instructing me to do find her father, and took off again.

Drifting through the castle towards the disorganized little office that Robin had, I had to wonder what was going on. Neither Robin nor Chrom had been seen all day. Lucina knew why, I suspected, for she had an unusually somber air about her, but was tight lipped. None of the others knew, I suspected, as I drew up to the door.

For a moment, I hesitated, before raising my hand to knock. Before I could, the door clicked open, as if by magic. I glared at it, and stepped inside. The door clicked shut behind me.

Robin and Chrom having cleared two more chairs sat facing each other, with unusually somber expressions.

"Marth." Robin greeted me with a nod. Her hair dropped over her face, and she flipped it back into place with a glare. "Have a seat." She gestured at the other empty chair, which I dropped into, before realizing that there was some variety of alcohol on the table.

"I'm not sure what I'm doing here?" I asked. Chrom chuckled.

"I'm guessing you've figured out that something is up today?" he asked. I nodded a bit, unsure where this was going.

Robin took over, "You've probably heard mention made of Walhart the Conquer on the occasion right?" At my nod, she went on. "Today is the today Chrom and I killed him." Robin's eyes darkened.

"I sense there is more to this story than that." I had an inkling of what was going on and poured myself a glass of whatever it was.

Robin nodded, leaning back. "Walhart was the greatest enemy we would ever face, according to everyone. Oppressive, soul crushing, and bringing the world to its knees. We were dragged into the conflict by an old ally, so to speak, although after seeing how the people in Walhart's lands, we didn't have too many qualms about the situation."

Chrom smoothly took over. "The odds of the war were not especially good, granted. Walhart had an army of a million men, and we had far fewer. Even as skilled as the Shepherds are, the numbers were too much."

"It wasn't the first time we faced long odds." Robin took over again, her eyes downcast. "We took his armies in pieces, taking them down into a size we could manage. The more we learned, the more we should have been able to guess what was happening." I frowned, refilling my drink without realizing I had drained it.

"The various people we met told wildly conflicting stories. In the north, tales of Walhart putting down tyrant lords and bandits prevailed. Supposedly he had the blessing of the Voice of Naga, even." Chrom exhaled. "The farther south we marched, the grimmer the tales became. Whispered words of extortions, murders, and more of those subjugated."

Despite the obvious amount the duo had drank, I thought, this story flowed well, as I refilled my drink yet again.

"Then, we killed Yen Fray. That was when I knew something was wrong." Robin sighed. "That was when we met Excellus." Her lips curled in wrathful anger. "And we marched north to confront Walhart at long last." The self-loathing in her eyes was painful. "Now, even the north, the tales of Walhart were getting worse and worse. And so we went to war."

"Before the gates of his castle the Conqueror faced us." Chrom began. "Filled with righteous fury, he demanded our surrender. And our blades crossed." A long sigh escaped the Exalt. "At the time, I was never prouder of my daughters, dueling the most feared man alive head on head, and winning. Never more scared either, as we fought frantically to assist them."

"We needn't have worried about that." Robin's words had become cold again. "He retreated into his castle, and we gave chase. This time, it was Chrom and I who led the charge, striking down the first of his generals, a man whose name is now long forgotten. Then, we faced Excellus. Never even in the Mad King's War did we meet a man who reveled in the bloody arts of war so much." Robin's tone had become a whisper. "He laughed, mocking us for being a pair of puppets dancing to his strings."

A pit grew in my stomach as I came to the realization, just I'm sure as Robin and Chrom had in the heat of the moment.

"In his dying breath, that bastard gloated of how he had played Walhart, had organized the war, all for the Fire Emblem, to give to Grima. He mocked us with that knowledge." Chrom filled is. The bottle on the table was more than half empty at this point.

"So I ripped his life from his bones." Robin sounded detached from that act. "And we tried to reason with Walhart."

"We failed." Chrom whispered. "He drew he axe, and went to his execution on our blades, having been a good man, led by the nose to his death."

My stomach clenched. I remember Hardin laying bleeding before me, defeated, and coming to his own horrible realization.

And I spoke in my own turn, telling my own tale of guilt, of having to slay my friend from the schemes of a madman.

I spoke of war, of loss. I told them of Marth, the man behind the Hero King. For hours we sat in that room, for that one day, letting our souls bleed.

* * *

"The Voice of Naga is arriving tomorrow." Lucina was talking to a guard as I came around the corner. "You will ensure nothing goes ill." The man bowed to her.

"Yes Lady Lucina!" The guard bowed, and hurried away. Lucina caught sight of me, and gave me a smile.

"Hello Marth." She waited for me to draw even before walking alongside me.

"Lucina." I gave the woman who had borrowed my name a small smile and a nod. "What was that all about?"

She shrugged. "Lady Tiki is visiting, and Father is worried some insane Grimeal cultist will try something funny." She rolled her eyes. "As if the Grimeal will attack her here. Between Robin and Morgan, there is enough Fell Power in this castle to crush them with ease, never mind Father and I."

I vaguely heard the last part of her statement, but my brain sort of locked up on the name Tiki.

 _Mar-Mar!_ The pet name rang in my ears, along with the young girl tackling me in hugs. He bright smiles, and terrible power. I shook the memories off.

It was just a coincidence I told myself. She was a figure of legend, just like me, so it made sense the holy figures of Naga would be named for her. No doubt that was the case, after all, in the past, it had happened, so it would make sense that it would happen now. There was no reason to believe the little manakete who had been an unwavering companion would be here, even if Robin's time travel theory was right.

"Marth?" Lucina sounded concerned. "Are you alright?"

I gave her what I hoped was a reassuring smile. "Just fine. Memories." Lucina didn't look convinced, but nodded anyway.

* * *

The next day found the Shepherds arrayed outside the castle, and Cordelia and Sumia retrieving me from the castle roof. I stood, feeling a bit askance behind the group, as the waited for this Tiki, to arrive. Even though I had convinced myself that she was just someone who had been given the name, and not the manakete, I still held onto a faint hope that she was my old companion.

A clamor from the city, rose up, and only a moment later, Robin gave a snort.

"She coming." The purple haired woman proclaimed, eyes gleaming almost in delight.

True to Robin's word, the gates of to the castle grounds opened, and in walked a person I had not been prepared for.

She flowed over the earth with the sort of calm and poise that I had never seen before. Robin and Lucina came close, but even they could not match the literal inhuman air this woman possessed. Had I need seen her feat touch the ground I would have sworn she floated over the earth.

The shade of green was fairly light, with sharply pointed ears slipping out from beneath it, leading my eyes back to the rest of her hair, which was held up by a dark red leather ribbon. Just over her forehead was a familiar tiara. My breath hitched. Her eyes were a different shade of green than her hair, brighter and shimmering with life. A small half smile lingered on her lips.

With a gulp, I made the mental admission that she was beautiful. A cape of some silvery material flowed down her back, ending about her hip, with a collar rising up around her neck, standing in a bit of contrast to her pale skin, and the golden metal choker about her neck. Her brown tunic was remarkably form fitting, in such a manner as to very much flatter her figure. Tall, lightly heeled leather books stretched up her legs, folding up at the top to reveal stockings that stopped a few inches farther up, leaving a relatively short stretch of pale skin visible before her tunic started again. A sash made of the same shimmering material as her cape held her tunic in place, as well as doing a very good job of preventing anything from being visible via the slits in the sides of the garment.

I closed my eyes for a very brief second to collect myself before coming to a pretty straightforward conclusion.

When I had thought she was beautiful earlier, I had understated the point. Beautiful failed to adequately grasp, or even accurately describe the woman, who was in the process of sharing some joke with Robin and Chrom who were shaking their heads in amusement. Gorgeous was closer, but still remained underwhelming.

Before I had time to come up with the correct english words, the woman broke away from Robin and Chrom moving towards me.

I gulped again as I found myself transfixed by the way she just glided towards me, the borderline unnatural grace of the movement totally captivating.

She stopped before me, our eyes locking, and her lips parting in a brilliant smile. "Mar-Mar?" There was utter delight in her eyes, coupled with shock. Before I could really formulate a response she pulled me into a tight hug, which made it painfully obvious that the manakete I had known in the form of a twelve year old girl had matured in a woman.

* * *

"What happened?" Next I knew, I was lying in a bed. As I sat up, I realized that Robin was leaning against the door, while Lucina leaned against a nearby wall. Chrom was sitting in a chair, and seemed to be recovering from chuckling.

"What happened? "Chrom's eyes seemed to light up in delight. "You passed out is what!" He started laughing again. I frowned.

Passed out? What? Why had I…. oh. Right. The mental image of Tiki, years upon years older than she had been last I saw her, and infinitely more beautiful.

"And now he remembers." Chrom continued to laugh, shaking his head. "Who knew, the vaunted Hero King passed out from a hug!" I glared at him.

"Father, be nice." Lucina's chided. "Unless I miss my mark, you were totally clueless, and could have had a woman practically throw herself upon you, and not known what to do."

Chrom spluttered, and Robin added helpfully, "Actually, he quite literally did on a few occasions." Her smirk was wicked. "I practically had to explain everything to him…" She shook her head.

"Robin!" Lucina yelped, obviously not wanting to know. I groaned. In Naga's name, what had I ended up in now?

"What?" Robin's smirk was full blown. "It's true. I mean, at least Marth has half a clue, so I'd say your Father can't exactly give him shit." It was odd, I thought, the way Robin took sides in arguments. She tended to avoid actively saying she supported one person or the other, instead making underhanded jibed at both sides, before make some backhanded show of support. Chrom glared at her, obviously noticing the same thing.

"So let me get this straight." I grumbled. "Tiki, as in the manakete daughter of Naga, who fought with me more than two thousand years ago is, in fact, alive. Not only that, but she has matured from looking like a child, to looking like an adult woman, oh, and by the way, also just so happens to remember me." All of them nodded. Chrom was still grinning way too much. "She just showed up here a short while ago, hugged me, and I passed out." More nods. Dropping back onto the pillows, I groaned. Why me?

"Yes. I'm guessing you want to talk to her." Robin asked. I nodded, mute, not trusting my voice. Lucina moved over, grabbing her father by the arm, and dragging him from the room. Robin paused, giving me a long stare. I suspected she wanted to say something, but she settled for that half smile that was the closest Robin got to gestures of emotional support, and slipped from the room, promising to send Tiki to visit me.

As Robin left, I released a long slow sigh. Lucina and Robin, I think understood exactly what was going through my head better than Chrom, or perhaps Chrom did in his own way and way just trying to distract me. It was hard to say with the Ylissean Exalt.

Robin though, she, as always knew more than she let on. I didn't think there existed a situation capable of surprising that woman, as she seemed to have a plan for quite literally everything. During one of my late night chats with Severa, which had taken on much happier note in recent days, I had asked if there was ever a time when Robin didn't have a plan. The young woman had quite seriously replied, _If Robin doesn't have a plan for it, then it isn't going to happen._ Which had made me chuckle.

Then, reality hit home. I wasn't really alone. There was someone who did share my burden, my past, at least parts of it, and had lived the wars I had lived. Not to mention she just so happened to have turned into one of, if not the, most beautiful woman I had ever seen.

"Marth?" Tiki stepped through the door, moving gingerly, an expression on her face that suggested she wasn't sure exactly what to say. Her eyes were guarded, a far cry from the bright innocent eyes of the Manakete who stood by my side to slay the Dark Dragon twice. Then again, she had lived two thousand years.

"Hello Tiki." I tried to smile, but I suspected the expression failed. More memories came rushing back, memories of war and screams, of blood and death. Memories of love and life as well, and then death and loss. Something must have showed in my eyes, for her expression fell a bit. "I…"Words just sort of failed. What the hell was I supposed to say?

Tiki, at least seemed to understand, her smile returning a bit, and she sat on the side of the bed, placing a hand over mine. "It's been many years." She whispered.

"I suspect moreso for you than me." I pointed out. Her lips quirked.

"Yes." A simple word, which carried so much weight. The weight of loss. I knew that after the second war, Tiki had been place in that enchanted sleep again. I had been less than impressed what I leaned of the decision, but I was no place to argue with a god. Who knows how many years later she had woken to find out all of us had died.

I opened my mouth to apologize, but stopped myself. What good was an apology? "Has Robin told you what she thinks happened?" I asked instead.

Tiki shrugged. "Robin says that no one knows." Her reply was dry, the tone suggestiong that she and Robin had exchanged words over the issue. "I asked of Naga myself to no avail, and Grima gave Robin no answers. Robin herself has no idea, which leaves very few explanations." Tiki paused. "How are you doing?"

We both knew that there were layers of the question. How was I adapting to what had happened? How was I physically, in terms of health? How was I mentally? Was I feeling any sort of effects from the random time traveling?

"I'm…..mostly okay." I replied. Tiki frowned. "It's been hard." I whispered. "It was like going from one tragedy to another." Tiki's head tilted to the side in this way that was undeniably cute. My heart wrenched.

"One tragedy to another?" Her voice was soft, and I could watch the gears turning in her mind. "Oh Mar-Mar." She whispered her fingers wrapped around my own. I wasn't sure how Tiki knew, but I knew she did.

"It was all so unexpected" I murmured. "The winter was harder than unusual, and she fell ill with a cold that just would not pass. We tried everything. Herbal remedies, the greatest of magic's, even just time, all failed." Tears formed in Tiki's eyes, as she worked out where this was going. "It was the first day of spring, the sun was shining, the day pristine. Almost as though nature itself would mock me." Her grip was tight upon my hand as I spoke.

She didn't say any words. She didn't have too. Tiki had dealt with the very pain that wracked my soul a thousand times worse. Her fingers wrapped about my own hand, her skin burning hot against mine. After a long hesitation, she leaned forwards, and pulled me into a hug. Her warmth reminded me of someone else, holding me as I screamed in the night, the images of death and blood, and a monster standing up on a mountain of corpses finally becoming too much.

For the second time since I had arrived in this place, so far out of my own time, on the wings of death, I began to weep.

* * *

Tiki and I stepped out of the room face to face with Lucina and Robin. Neither of them gave any comment about the tears that no doubt crisscrossed my cheeks, or the wet splotches from the same on Tiki's tunic. Robin mumbled a spell, placing her hand upon Tiki's shoulder, causing the splotches to simply fade away.

Robin's eyes met mine, and she gave a bit of a nod before turning, and giving Lucina a significant look. There was a feeling that some sort of conversation took place, before Lucina gave a bit of a sad smile, and a nod.

"Robin?" Tiki asked, obviously getting the same feeling of an unspoken conversation. Said woman shrugged.

"Come on." She gestured, without answering the question. "Lucina will occupy the rest of them." Tiki and I both shrugged, following Robin, up the stairs of the castle, before we arrived in the room that passed for Robin's office. I only felt the magic that clicked the door shut.

"Robin?" Tiki asked. I shivered a bit at the intensity of Robin's expression. The tone of Tiki's voice didn't help. While not quite accusing, it was sharper than normal.

"I take great pride in having a plan for quite literally every single eventually." Robin began. "In total fairness, I had considered the idea that you," She gestured at me, "Were the Marth from her," She gestured at Tiki, "past, but I had discounted the idea, mostly because, in retrospect, I don't know." Robin threw her hands up. "That isn't true. I discounted it, because nothing in history speaks of any of your companions Marth, so it seemed to make sense that you weren't the same Marth that Tiki knew."

Tiki seemed to consider Robin for a long time. "Hence why you didn't tell me the Marth had appeared." The tone of the question was neutral, but I recognized it from when I had known Tiki. In those days, the little manakete had been less than amused when we had tried to exclude her from things we considered 'adult', before we realized that she was older than the entire army combined. Such a tone did not bode well.

Robin, it seemed knew the same, and gave a bit of a nod. "Having seen the after effects of me essentially dying to ensure Grima stayed buried had on Lucina, it seemed less than wise to get your hopes up, and then have it not be the same Marth you knew." Tiki scowled, but nodded, obviously understanding Robin's logic, but less than happy about it.

"And, I'm guessing is the same reason Tiki was never mentioned to me." I filled in. Robin gave a bit of a nod, closing her eyes for a time.

"Yes." She shrugged. "You two are the only people to honestly and truly surprise the crap out of me in quite a while." I saw a flash of amusement cross Tiki's face.

"I'm not sure I like that comparison." Her tone was mostly teasing. Robin shrugged.

"You are much more appealing to look at than Grima, I assure you. Far better conversation partner as well." Robin's reply was immediate and dry. Tiki gave her a halfhearted glare.

"I'm afraid I'm missing something." I slipped into the conversation, finding the odd dynamic between Robin and Tiki amusing. Although I had occasionally heard passing references to their war, and the mysterious being known as Grima, I had never pressed for details and thus found myself quite lost.

"Grima was, at least as close as we can tell, a manakete at one point, who suffered the mental degeneration of my kin." Tiki replied.

"Totally insane, stupidly magically powerful, and ugly has hell." Robin agreed, her eyes glittering with suppressed mirth. "How the devil something that ugly can come from the same general lineage that produced her?" Robin waved a hand towards Tiki. "One of the many unsolved mysteries of the world."

I blinked. Tiki blushed a bit out of the corner of my eye. "I've told you before Robin-" Tiki started, and Robin just cut he off.

"And I told you before as well. You're wrong." Robin pointed out, a glint of mischief in her eyes that made me wary. "Just ask him, since apparently my word isn't worth anything, or Lucina, Or Chrom. Or-" Robin seemed content to go on, but Tiki cut her off.

"Exactly what are you trying to prove Robin?" She demanded.

"I believe she is attempting to prove the point that you are, in fact exceptionally beautiful." I filled in, before realizing what I had said, and probably turning completely red. Robin's expression reminded me of _her's_ on one particular day.

Tiki for her part only blushed lightly, a small smile crossing her face. For a moment, I thought there was something else there, but it vanished.

"Quite right." In that moment, I knew I had given something away to Robin, although what I might have told her, I hadn't a clue.

"I'm never going to win that argument am I." Tiki observed, her expression a bit amused, a bit resigned. Robin smirked, giving a small shrug.

"Nope." She stood. "I probably should go save Lucina from the others." She swept from the room, leaving me feeling more and more like there was something I was missing. My only consolation was that Robin wasn't my enemy.

"She is up to something." I mused. Tiki giggled a bit, a sound that did nothing to diminish the otherworldly feeling she exuded.

"Of course she is." Tiki's amusement was obvious. "And you'll never catch her on it, unless you can convince Lucina." I gave her a questioning glance. "Lucina is the only person who can ever catch Robin out in her scheming, even Chrom can't anymore. Lucky for most of us, Robin's scheming and planning is usually limited to embarrassing noblemen who get overly friendly with Lucina, or terrifying the occasional war monger into submission."

"As opposed to?" I found myself unsure how to respond. Tiki shrugged.

"As opposed to meddling in people's lives." She replied. "Which given how powerful she is, wouldn't even be difficult." That made me frown. There it was again, a vague reference to Robin being more powerful than anyone else. I knew she was a beyond expert swordswoman, but had seen little to indicate she was so incredibly powerful. This must have showed, because Tiki gave a sad smile. "Robin was supposed to be as to Grima as Gharnef was to Medeus."

My blood ran cold. Suddenly, the vague references to Robin's power made much more sense. In a strange way, so did Lucina borrowing my name, in a sense. Tiki's expression was quite serious.

"Even I don't really know how powerful Robin is. Only Morgan and Lucina have a guess, I think, and I suspect for very good reason, they don't talk about it." I nodded a bit.

"Lucina has occasionally made references to Robin dying?" I probed a bit, as the two of us started making out way back through the castle.

Tiki's expression darkened momentarily. "Yes." There was a pause. "Medeus was not a god, in any sense of the word, although he was tremendously powerful. Grima, on the other hand was every bit as godlike as Naga is." Again, I shivered. "Robin, her daughter, and Lucina fought Grima, while the rest of us dealt with his followers."

I had a brief realization that the strategy was much the same as we had used against Medeues. She and I had fought him alone, while the rest had held the lines. Tiki's expression was distant.

"I did not see what happened clearly, and by the time we realized the battle was over, Naga had moved us to safety."

"I believe I called Robin every horrible thing possible." Lucina fell into step next to us. "Repeatedly." I glanced over at the woman who seemed to have filled my shoes in this time. "Which was nothing on what Morgan threatened to do, and then followed through on."

Tiki hand snapped around. "Morgan actually did that?"

Lucina gave a sharp nod, and I felt a shiver run down my spine. I had no idea what threats Morgan had delivered to her mother, but knowing a little bit of the strange young woman, I felt a great deal of fear.

* * *

It was late that night when I found myself sitting up on the roof of the castle again, like I always seemed to end up since arriving here.

The sky was, appropriately, I supposed, overcast. The only light on the entire room was the dim glow of Falchion, which I had laid on the stonework before me, although, I could not see the dim illumination, as I gazed into the sky.

"Something is on your mind." Morgan's voice was unusually serious, as she slipped out of the darkness, and into my field of vision.

I didn't answer, staying lost in my thoughts. Faces of my old companions danced behind my eyes, memories as well swirled around.

"You have the same look Lucina did when Mom died." Morgan mused, and I almost expected her to make some remark about irony. "You're better at hiding it than she was, I guess, but it's all there." The silence between us stretched again, as Morgan sat down at the edge of the dim circle of light.

"I see a lot of me in Lucina, and your Mother sometimes." I whispered. "So I suppose that doesn't surprise me." For a long time we were silent again, and Morgan didn't respond. "Especially when I listen to the others talk about them during your war." Again, the silence dragged on.

"Mom says that sometimes." Morgan murmured after a time. "That there is much of you in Lucina. She doesn't think that the two of you have much in common." I chuckled a bit.

"I cannot read the people around me like your mother can, or plan a thousand moves ahead in a game as she does, but there are some things we both do very similar."

Morgan considered, and then gave a long sigh, as though something became clear. Much like her mother earlier in the day, I got the feeling I had given her knowledge of something. I'm guessing there was some tell on my face as Morgan sighed again.

"Loss leaves marks on the soul." She whispered. "All of us just bears those marks differently. You bear those scars deep inside, hide them as best you can." Morgan explained, her voice patient, and rippling for her own sorrows.

I flinched. How the hell had she figured that out so quickly?

Again, memories of porcelain skin, far too pale, eyes closed, hands clasped as if in silent prayer.

"Yes." I whispered. "Losing someone you love will destroy your soul, slowly, from the inside out." I paused, unsure why I was even saying some of this. "We humans fall in love easily, and forget very seldom." Morgan didn't speak, just listening. I found myself grateful. "It took me a long time to fully realize I had, and I spent enough time making an ass of myself before managing to admit such to myself. And then…."

I trailed off. Talking to Tiki had reopened some of those wounds, but I still wasn't really willing to honestly admit everything about that to myself.

"Two wars took a tremendous toll on her." I mused aloud. "On all of us, I suppose, but on her more than most." I shrugged. "The second war more than the first. Timing was inopportune to the extreme, and then the emotional toll continued to rise." Tears were starting to from in the corners of my eyes, and I blinked them away. "Then the second war ended, and I think we all wanted to go back to our lives, and ignore just how battered we were."

Morgan made a noise of agreement. "We did much of the same." She admitted. "I think it just sort of happens, after a while." I nodded a bit.

"Yes. And then the results of that action caught up with us." I sighed. "She fell ill and never recovered."

Morgan's breath sucked in.

"Less than a month later, I woke up here, in a field with you, Chrom and your Mother standing over me." Morgan gave a bit of a nod.

"Mother said as much." Her eyes were bright, and I realized suddenly what I had revealed to Robin, or rather confirmed. "She knew you had lost someone, actually guessed that your wife died."

I sat up sharply, just staring in muted disbelief. How the hell had Robin figured that out? I knew the woman was sharp, and so observant that it was scary, but damn. How the devil had she pulled that off?

"I see." I mused, considering how Robin and Chrom had interacted with me then. Neither had asked questions, and I had occasionally seen the look I now knew to mean Robin was uncomfortable with something flash across her face. As if she didn't know how to handle the situation. In retrospect, it made sense that Robin had read me like a book from the beginning. The woman was, it seemed a bona fide genius.

"Yeah." Morgan gave a bit of a chuckle. "That's kinda what I said the first time I figured out one of Mom's insane plans." Morgan eyes had a bizarre sort of shine in the light of the Falchion. "I haven't seen my mother completely serious often since the end of the war, really, but when you appeared, she was completely serious." There was a long silence. "Enough about my Mother being a cheating bitch," The sudden shift back to the usually cheerful and erratic Morgan was jarring, "Tell me about her."

It was easy to know what Morgan was talking about. My chest twisted again as I considered Morgan's words.

"She was the sort of person I don't think I'll ever meet again." I started talking, unsure what I was even doing. "She found good in people that I most certainly could not."

I did not appear from my room the next day, instead opting to watch over the castle, and think.

She would have told me I was brooding. And she wouldn't have been wrong, I knew, intrinsically. I was brooding, a bit, after spending hours of the night talking to Morgan. I was not sure what about Robin's daughter, with her wild changes in mood, made her such an ideal person to talk about such things too. Once I had started, everything just poured out.

Now, though, with the fog of bottled memories, some others drifted back.

 _I suspected she hadn't realized I was awake. She as always up far earlier than I, and I had to try very hard not to frown when I realized she was only wearing the thin nightgown she had gone to sleep in._

 _She coughed, a hacking sound, and spat up coming into the sink. I winced, and she swore._

 _"Getting worse." Her voice was unusually raspy as well. "Damnit all. I'm sorry Marth." I didn't move, just listening. "I…." She trailed off, as though not willing to admit something. "I can feel it getting worse day by day."_

 _My breath caught in my throat. No. I knew what she was implying, how could I not, but it wasn't something I wanted to consider. I shifted, trying to roll over in the manner of someone tossing in their sleep._

 _My wife was dying. It was a reality that had been probably long in coming, I knew, something I should have accepted a long time ago, but still, I could not. How the hell was I supposed to accept that someone I cared dearly about was slowly dying?_

 _There was the soft rasp of her steps made me tense beneath the covers, before I forced myself to relax. I couldn't let her know I was awake. That was a conversation I wasn't ready for._

 _"Oh Marth…." Her tone was sad. "I wish this wasn't how it had to be." There was a long silence, and she brought her hand to rest on my shoulder._

 _Her skin, as always was blazing, a stark contrast to my own usually frigid cold. Sometimes that was the only thing that helped me slip back to sleep after my nightmares, her steady, unrelenting warmth. Although I would never admit it to her father, or to Marcus, her warmth was sometimes the only thing that kept me coming back from battle in the wars._

 _"I pray that my fears aren't true but…" The pause hung heavy on us both. "If I do….please don't bear yourself down mourning for me. Remember how to fall in love again."_

I jerked from my memories with a gasp, and tumbled from the chair I was in. The stones floor was cold as I tried to still my heart, without much success.

"What the hell was that?" I whispered. I couldn't remember that day ever happening, but at the same time, it seemed far too vividly real to be anything else. Also, the words seemed like something she would have said.

I groaned, rubbing my temples before righting the chair, and sitting down again. A knock at my door prevented me from thinking much more.

"Come in!" The door opened slowly, and Tiki floated into the room. As the previous day, her otherworldly grace was entrancing, something I suspected would never change. "Tiki." I smiled a bit at her. She returned the smile I bit hesitantly.

"Marth. Are you alright? No one has seen you all day?" She seemed quite concerned, and equally unsure how to express it.

"Just thinking." I replied, my tone neutral. Tiki frowned, and I knew she was far too worldly to be fooled by such a thin excuse. "I rather lost track of time." That seemed to placate her a bit, although I had the suspicion she knew more was going on.

"Oh." There was a pause.

I wasn't sure what prompted me to say what spilled from my mouth. "I was about to take a walk, for a change of scenery, if you want to come?" That got me a bit of a smile, and I had to wonder what had prompted me to say anything.

"Alright." She nodded, and so, I found myself walking through the castle courtyards with Tiki .

"What have you been doing since then?" I asked her, as I had become rather curious.

Tiki sighed. "I have slept for most of the intervening time, before waking up only relatively recently." I hid a wince. That had to hurt, waking up centuries after all your friends had died, all alone. "Since then, I have been known as the Voice of Naga."

I nodded a bit. Lucina referred to Tiki as such on occasion. "Sounds like a rather lonely existence." I admitted, shuddering. I had barely lived after _she_ died. I couldn't imagine how Tiki ended up.

"It is the curse of my kind." She admitted. "And those similarly blessed by the Divine, I suspect." She shrugged a bit. "Loss and loneliness is something I had to become used to." I shuddered. "I've slept most of my years away, so it doesn't burn as much as it might."

"Still." I shook my head. "I can't imagine living like that." I admitted, my thoughts turning to _her_ again.

"You learn." Tiki gave me a bit of a smile, stopping beneath one of the larger trees in the gardens. "And adapt." She motioned for me to sit, and I did. Tiki shifted, sitting smoothly opposite, me, the motion, like every single other thing she did, was unerringly fluid.

"So, what are you actually after?" I asked, knowing that something was up. There was no direct line of thinking that gave it away, just a feeling, and I had learned to trust my feelings.

Tiki shrugged, a motion that drew attention to her chest, and I found myself tearing my eyes away quickly. "Just wanted to make sure you are okay. You tended to get very wrapped up in your brooding, and no one else seemed likely to drag you out of it. I think they are scared of you."

That made me laugh a bit. "Scare of me?" I repeated. Tiki nodded, a small smirk forming.

"Some of them. Robin just seemed alright to let you brood, and Morgan just seemed sad." I nodded. That made sense to me, especially given I had talked to Morgan all night.

"Not sure why. They are all just as skilled as I am." I argued. Tiki giggled a bit.

"They are scared of your legend Marth." She pointed out. "You are a larger than life figure to most of them, someone straight out of history. It is only logical that they are a bit wary of you. Add to that, you do live up to the legends of your skill in battle, being able to match the greatest warriors they know."

"I'm nothing special." I objected. Tiki smiled a bit more, and seemed to hesitate a moment.

"Don't ever change Mar-Mar." She told me, leaning forwards, and kissing me, quickly.

Before I had a chance to really respond, she was gone.


	3. Chapter 3

"Marth?" I nearly jumped out of my skin at Lucina's voice.

"Yes?" I asked, shifting my focus to Lucina. Her eyes gleamed with a hidden mirth, although I felt less utterly exposed than when gazed upon by Morgan and Robin.

"You seemed a bit out of it." She shrugged. "Figured you needed to be distracted from something."

I gave a weak smile, pushing myself upright, using the tree for leverage. "Sure. I gather you have something in mind." Lucina, although with a lot of shades of me, had obviously picked up some of Robin's traits, including almost always having a plan.

"Of course." She motioned for me to follow, in the direction of the sparing fields.

As we walked, it became relatively obvious what Lucina wanted. Although we had spared on occasion, I had not been in top form at that point, and we both knew it. Of the two, Lucina was better than Robin by a slim margin, and I knew she took great pride in that distinction.

Stopping in the middle of the fields, Lucina turned to face me, drawing her Falchion. The Divine Blade was perfectly identical to my own, with its pristine untainted edge, a dull gleam no matter the time, and unerring balance.

I matched her motion, fluid and precise, so similar and so different from my own. Drawing my own blade, I faced her, considering.

Our eyes met, and both of us slid into a relaxed stance, our Divine Weapons tight to our bodies.

For a moment nothing moved, before I sprang forwards. I knew Lucina's patterns well, and started with a sharp feint towards her knees. As I expected she jumped back, and I pressed my attack, spinning into a strike at her relatively unprotected right shoulder.

Without even pausing, she slid around my blow, and lashed out. I ducked, finding myself on the defensive, and Lucina pressed forward, her blade whirling into a storm of steel that forced me backwards.

Despite our appearance and weapons, our fighting styles were very different. Lucina was a constant press of offense, never giving one a moment to rest, while I preferred a more methodical fighting style, balancing my attacks with my ability to hold the line against foes such as Lucina.

Ducking under a blow, I tried to punch her in the chest, forcing her to break her rhythm. That, in my experience was the only way to have a chance of beating her, and was why Robin could do so well. As Lucina landed from her jump, I lunged, sweeping a blow to her knees upwards, and back down at her shoulders. The first, she avoided, the second actually clashed against her Falchion in a shower of sparks.

I disengaged at once, regarding Lucina warily. She was, even now, every bit my equal, or even better at the art of swordplay.

"I would hate to cross blades with you in a duel to the death." Lucina murmured, her eyes narrow. "You are a unique." I frowned, unsure what to make of that.

"What do you mean?" I made a probing strike, and Lucina casually swatted them aside, but did not press.

"In my experience, there are very few people on the same level as Robin and I. Father, Morgan, and maybe Severa. Even Lon'qu cannot keep up with us in recent days." I nodded a bit, turning a lazy strike aside, and lashing out in response, but Lucina had already danced away.

"That hardly makes me unique." I challenged. Lucina just laughed.

"To the contrary." She attacked again, her relentless offense pushing me back, and I had to perform a few acrobatic feats to avoid some of her more creative attacks. "That makes you quite unique." Our blades clashed as I was finally forced to directly block a strike. "I have been fighting since I was a child, and been in situations that might kill me since I was twelve." Her eyes were hard for a moment as we separated, putting some distance between us. "That you can hold your own against me is a miracle Marth." She attacked again, faster and faster, her Falchion a streak of white as I fought back desperately.

Lucina was gaining ground, slowly, and I knew it. So did she. Twisting around one of her blows, I flipped my sword into a reverse grip, and blocked another strike head one, sliding her blade down the length of my own, before throwing a sloppy punch towards her face. Lucina shifted, managing to glance the blow off her shoulder, but it made her stumble back enough for me to disengage, and gather my wits.

"I'm hardly holding my own." I pointed out, panting hard. Not since the wars had I been so hard pressed against anyone, and this was only a spar. Fighting Lucina to the death sounded terrifying.

Her eyes gleamed. "Yes you are." She stepped back, her stance loose. "I'm not holding back against you Marth. At all." Lucina's eyes gleamed. I blinked.

"Oh." I mumbled, unsure what to make of that. In truth, I had lost the ability to hold back against Lucina as I got pressed harder and harder, but none the less the realization that I had pushed Lucina as hard as she could go was impressive.

"Oh." This time, she smirked. "I have to admit, it's been a while since I've seen someone with that sort of facial expression." She moved forwards again, this time, at a more relaxed pace. I matched it, and this time, we traded blows more reasonably.

"What facial expression?" I asked her, ducking under a blow, and striking towards her knees.

"An expression that conveys an equal parts, confusion, happiness, befuddlement, and just being utterly lost." She chuckled a bit. "Last time was Robin actually."

"Oh? What did you do to Robin?" I asked, finding myself curious. Robin and Lucina were a strange pair, I thought, so the odds of Lucina totally baffling Robin were probably fairly high.

"Well, the first time, it was the first time I kissed her." Lucina grinned, pressing forwards, and I stumbled, however I recovered well, rolling away from a follow up blow.

"What?" I had never heard much about their relationship, although Robin got a great deal of grief over it. Lucina grinned, pressing her advantage.

"The first time I kissed her, Robin just sort of sat around for almost two days with an expression much like you had." Lucina admitted. "Then she called me five different varieties of a bitch."

I ducked under her sword, and gave her a shove in the chest, causing her to stumble. "Sounds about like my reaction the first time the woman I eventually married kissed me." I admitted, not even thinking about the words. "At least if my companions are to be believed." Lucina twirled under my overhead stroke, and punched me in the chest, knocking me back.

"She sounds like quite the woman." Lucina replied as she landed smoothly, having used me as a bit of a springboard. I nodded.

"She was indeed." I pressed an attack, a more lazy display than any serious spar. "Sort of reminds me of your mother, in a sense." I admitted. "Not so prone to tripping over her own footwear, but sometimes I see shades of her in Sumia."

Lucina started another exchange, her eyes gleaming with the half-light of setting sun.

"She was always looking out for me." I was sort of speaking without realizing. "And kept me grounded during the war." There was a bit of a sad smile on Lucina's face, and I went on. "We were married in the months after the second war, and I guess we tried so hard to ignore what was happening…." I trailed off.

"There is no shame in that." Lucina pointed out, blocking a blow to her knees, and swinging at my chest. "You had won your war, it was time for you to rest. No one would expect you to be alert for more dangers."

I gave a sad smile of my own, performing an elaborate and ridiculous move to strike at her neck. Lucina parried with ease.

"But I still should have been." I paused in my speech to trade a few blows. "It wasn't until after, that I found out the truth." My heart twisted at this point, as the memories flooded back. "We thought it was sickness, at first, and it made sense. She was never frail, but at the same time, illness would linger with her, so we thought nothing of it. Until…" I trailed off. Lucina traded a few blows, before I went on. "It was, ironically enough, Catria who found out, if a bit by accident. It wasn't illness as we thought, but poison. According to the healers, a remarkably advanced poison the like they hadn't seen until that point." I twisted around a blow from Lucina. "My wife did not die from sickness Lucina, my wife was murdered. And I murdered her killer."

"What the bloody hell happened to the two of you!" It was Chrom who made the exclamation as Lucina and I arrived at the evening meal. From the far side of the room, I swore I saw Robin grin and nod in Lucina's direction.

"Sparring." Lucina replied without missing a beat. I had to hold in a laugh at the incredulous expressions of almost everyone. Morgan however just seemed disappointed.

"Lucina!" The young woman threw her hands up. "We agreed that your idea of sparring is too insane for anyone but Mother!" Even more incredulous looks were exchanged.

"You are alive?" the soft tones of Lon'qu's voice came from the crowd. "How? Her version of sparring is a death sentence!" The swordsman shook his head.

"Morgan, be quiet a moment." Lucina commanded, and, as always Morgan stopped. I found it odd how Chrom was the Exalt, but the younger members of the group deferred to Lucina and Morgan before anyone else. "First, we weren't sparring as I see it. And second, you were the only one who agreed that."

"Given the state of the man, I would argue that you still went overkill." Chrom jumped in.

"I would point out Lucina is in as bad of shape, so Marth obviously did fine." Robin cut in, her tone a bit sharp. "Now, can we eat? This is the first time I've emerged from my office today, and I want food."

The seemed to quell the discussion for the moment. As we sat down, Tiki dropped down opposite Lucina. I suppressed the urge to flush as I remembered her lips brushing against mine, and the fact that the position she had been sitting in had given me an excellent view down her tunic, which I suspected was intentional.

"Is there a reason you were trying to kill Marth?" her tone was mostly teasing, despite her words. Lucina shrugged.

"He's alive, so I obviously wasn't trying to kill him, was I?" She returned. I snorted.

"It would take a lot more than you to kill me." I offered. My words sounded a bit forced, but none the less, had the desired effect of making both of them chuckle.

I survived the meal without incident, and slipped away as it was winding down. The enormity of what I had told Lucina was finally settling on my shoulders, and I wanted some space from people.

The roof had become my normal night-time haunt, and I settled into my normal spot, leaving Falchion sheathed. I didn't want the light this time. I wanted the darkness to wrap me up, and hide me from the world.

 _My rage was white hot, pulsing through my veins on the wings of adrenaline, making my hands shake. Catria's eyes were wide, as she met mine._

 _"Marth?" Her tone was afraid, and I made an effort to pull my fury back. "Marth?"_

 _I shook my head. "Who was it Catria? What was the bastard's name?" She shivered, backing up a step._

 _But she told me. It had been three days since the funeral, and my emotions still ran wild, and I reached on instinct, grasping the hilt of Falchion. The slightly rough surface of the hilt was comforting in my hand, as I stood._

 _"Catria, tell the guard I want them to assemble in the throne room." I ordered, starting from the room._

 _The short walk from my room to the throne seemed to drag on an on, as my blood pounded in my veins. The evidence Catria had given me was ironclad, there was no disputing it._

 _"Prince Marth!" The Captain of the Guard saluted me as I entered. "Lady Catria says you want to us to assemble." I nodded sharply._

 _"Yes." I closed my eyes, wanting very much too just go and kill the bastard, but I would at least do things the right way. "Lady Catria will take you to the man who I want brought to me. At once."_

 _The men nodded, and carried out my ordered with incredible haste, and within the hour, the traitorous lord was on his knees before me, bleeding from a blow to the head, and a stab in the shoulder._

 _I felt no pity for him though, and I didn't offer him a healer, as I might other prisoners. This slime didn't deserve it._

 _I presented him with the evidence, and, under witness of the Captain of my guard, Catria, and Jaegan, who appeared, watching and looking disappointed in the distance, dragged the scum out into the yard, and struck his head from his shoulders, without so much as a warning._

Now, I lay on the roof, weeping hot tears, as the memories of the shock and terror in that man's eyes in the instant before my blade removed his head played over and over.

For once, no one visited me on the roof that night, and I found myself grateful for that.

I'm reasonably sure I did not hide the fact I didn't sleep that night well, but no one commented, Robin just gave me one of those looks that told me that she knew. None of the others made any sort of suggestion they noticed.

They all, however were surprised when I joined them on the sparring fields, after my, well brawl, with Lucina. I just shrugged, and took great pleasure in swindling several people who approached me for bets out of money on Robin and Lucina sparring.

Robin, rather unusually, won three of three with Lucina, but as I watched, I realized I had pushed Lucina harder than I had thought. She actually favored her weaker side, and even fought weak handed, although that did not slow her down a bit. Her body was obviously tired, and that was what got her, her slightly slowed reactions resulting in Robin getting the victory over and over.

Chrom thought it was hilarious. Tiki even gave a small giggle as I got called a cheating prick after the third time I won.

I just shrugged, and told people to pay more attention.

"Marth!" Severa came stalking over to me, her eyes gleaming with the sort of competitive fire that tended to get people in trouble. "You, spar, me!"

I rolled my eyes. "Severa, Lucina and I spent yesterday evening beating each other senseless. I don't need a repeat."

Some chuckles came from the crowd. The girl rolled her eyes. "Fine." She didn't seem to upset though. "I'll kick your ass another day."

"In your dreams." I shot back, feeling a bit more amused.

As the day drug on, I found myself drifting through the castle a bit aimlessly. The Shepherds, having had their fill of beating each other to pieces, had drifted off to various things, or to spend some alone time, as the case was, and I had simply drifted about the castle.

For some reason, I found myself in the courtyards, where Tiki was sitting in an almost meditative pose.

For a moment I just considered how the little manakete I had known so long ago had turned into arguably the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. That title, I knew had evolved a bit over the course of my life.

Contrary to popular belief in the army, I wasn't totally oblivious to the feelings of others towards me. I knew Catria had feelings for me, but by that time, I was already on my way to in love with the woman I married, who at the time was the most beautiful woman I had ever met.

I had to admit that Robin, the one time I had seen her without her cloak and armor, so you could, well actually _see_ her, was quite attractive, in a way very similar to Tiki, and her almost inhuman beauty. Robin, for her part, seemed like an almost pale comparison to Tiki.

It was at that moment I realized that the way Tiki was sitting had pulled the leather of her tunic taut in ways that only accentuated her figured.

I stomped on those thoughts at once.

"Hello Marth." Tiki opened her eyes, giving me a bright smile. I returned it weakly, feeling my thoughts clash with themselves. "What brings you here?"

I shrugged a bit. "Lost in my thoughts, I suppose." There was a silence between us, one that felt mostly comfortable. "And my regrets I suppose."

Tiki made a low hum, that didn't seem to account for much of anything. "We all have our regrets Marth, and there isn't nothing gained by wallowing in them." She pointed out, and I felt as though I was giving myself my own advice.

"I know." I replied. "I know quite well." There was another pause. "Some are fresher than others however." There was a long pause, but Tiki didn't press, and I found myself sitting against a nearby tree, watching as Tiki fell back into that meditative trance.

My thoughts, in turn drifted again.

My strange, memory/dream that had come to me from nowhere the other day weighed heavily on my mind. I knew she wouldn't want me to wallow in my sorrows, but at the same time, I recoiled at the idea of depending on anyone else again.

None the less, I felt relaxed around Tiki, and she had….Naga damn it all why had she done that? I'm reasonable sure I was turning an unflattering shade of red at the thought, and thus I tried to shift my thoughts away.

Although I had a loving family growing up, I was always very consciously aware of the vast divide between me, and the average person, and that many nobles ended up in marriages for the political gain of their parents. So, growing up, as I got older, I never really gave much credence to the idea that I would end up marrying for love.

Thus, I perhaps seemed a bit dense to woman's affections, but in truth, I had just developed a wall to insulate myself from growing feelings for someone, only to be dragged off for political gain.

That, however, changed, albeit slowly, over time when I first met Caeda. At first, I rationalized my feelings as just, it would be good to marry her, a good alliance and all those fine phrases, that now as much as ever left me with a bitter taste.

That all came crashing down, however the first time we had an argument, about what, I could not say. Granted, the realization that I had actual feelings for her pretty much reduced me to a mess for a few hours.

Admitting I had fallen in love with her, and deciding that, not only did I love Caeda, but propriety and usual noblemen's nonsense be damned, I was going to marry her had in a sense been the most liberating things I had ever done. Someone had pointed out that in the battle the next day, it had been as though I was a changed man. I seemed to recall making a witty remark that probably didn't matter now.

And then, she died. No, not died. She was murdered. And then, in a fit of purest fury, I had murdered her killer.

I could feel myself starting to cry, no matter how hard I fought against it. Loss was something that I had run out of tears for, sometime in the week after Caedea's death. I had just become cold, even colder than I normally felt.

My guilt at how I had acted however, weighted upon me, and as I slowly came to terms with the loss, started to become overwhelming. The fact that my companions all seemed to miss the fact I hadn't really done anything better than that slime had done didn't help.

A pair of warm arms wrapped around me, and as the memory of Caeda doing the same during some of the darker moments of the war surfaced again, my tears started to fall again.

Time continued to pass, and I continued to get the occasional strange look from Robin, and Lucina continued to get yelled at by Chrom over our occasional sparring matches, which, must like Lucina and Robin's spars, or Chrom and Robin's spars, had become something of a fixture. Robin took great delight in winning the bets over said spars.

Although I had originally gotten the impression Tiki was only visiting, she stayed, and I often found myself spending time around the Manakete, which drew a sort of knowing smile from Morgan that made me shiver a bit.

"Marth! Marth!" Cynthia was the one who came running down the halls and shattering my thoughts today, an occurrence that was becoming surprisingly common, and I was more and more comfortable with.

"Yes?" Chrom's more excitable daughter was panting hard, apparently having been running quite some distance.

"Lucina wants to see you." She replied, after catching her breath. "She seemed super serious too." That last part made me frown.

Lucina was a serous person by default, but I had not seen her exceptionally unsettled in quite some time. For Lucina to be 'super serious' according to the usually light hearted Cynthia, was worrying. "I'll go find her then." I replied, deciding that being serious was probably the better part of valor.

"She's in the throne room." Cynthia replied. "I've got to go find the others now!" She added, scampering off. I frowned, watching her leave.

Taking a moment to think, I started running toward the throne room. The guards and servants around the castle seemed relaxed, so I had to wonder what was up.

As I arrived in the room, the Shepherds were all assembled, with Lucina and Robin at the front of the group, Robin's arm around Lucina's shoulders, and a thoroughly contented expression on the tacticians face. As I entered, I was waved up towards the front of the crowd.

"Marth." Robin smiled, without any of the usual undertones of her plans or thinking that seemed to occasionally suffuse the woman.

I took a brief second to consider, before offering them both an honest smile of my own. "So which one of you two finally got around to it?" I asked. There were some chuckles from the crowd, and both women turned red.

"I told you, everyone knew it was coming." Chrom sounded amused. "Took a bit of the wind out of my fatherly sails, being unable to chew her future husband out, you know."

Robin gave Chrom a long stare, before shaking her head. "Chrom." It was a chiding remark, and seemed to communicate much more than his name. The man shrugged, utterly shameless.

"If my father is done trying to intimidate Robin, and failing?" Lucina cut in smoothly, her eyes gleaming with amusement. More chuckles came from the crowd. "As I gather everyone had figured out, yes, Robin and I are going to be married."

The whole room erupted with noise, cheers and congratulations from the crowd becoming rapidly deafening. Robin raised her left hand, magic rippling, and the entire room was instantly quiet.

"Thank you. I prefer my hearing to remain intact." She announced to more general chuckles.

The rest of that afternoon passed in a whirl, as everyone wanted to speak with the two. I slipped away from the crowd after a while, preferring to watch from the sidelines, and try not to be reminded of things.

"What's on your mind?" Tiki slipped from the shadows of the room. I shrugged.

"Just memories." I replied. Tiki gave a bit of a nod. "They all remind me so much of our old companions." Tiki smiled a bit.

"Have they told you they would like you to marry them?" She asked. I shook my head. That was news to me. Tiki nodded a bit. "Robin mentioned it to me last night…" There was a pause. "I don't think anyone would admit it, but that Robin was the one to propose surprised them."

I considered that for a moment, before shaking my head. "That is why you're here isn't it? Because Robin told you she was planning this?" That made Tiki smile a bit.

"Well, I suspect that was her ultimate motive yes. Not that you would be able to get Robin to admit it." I nodded a bit. That was true. Robin would never admit to having planned something that far in advance, but it was reasonable that she had. "She does seem to have assembled everyone, even those of us who were off the continent." There was a pause as Tiki shrugged a bit. "There are occasions when you really see why Robin won the war appear in day to day life, and then there are the times when she pulls something like this off."

I arched an eyebrow. Tiki didn't reminisce very often, or make comments of that nature without reason. Having lived for years longer than the entire population of the castle combined Tiki had a tendency to simple make secretive little smiles, or shake her head.

"Yes. I suspect even Morgan doesn't know her mother's entire plan." I snorted. That was doubtful. Morgan probably helped her set it up.

"And what do you suppose is Robin's master plan?" I challenged.

Tiki smiled a bit. "Although she does not show it often, you are probably the single greatest inspiration for Lucina. She has a great deal of respect for you Marth, so my guess is, that Robin basically had this entire plan laid from the moment she concluded that you were, in fact, Marth."

That did sound like Robin. "They want me to marry them then. You weren't joking." I circled back to the point Tiki had brought up originally. The manakete nodded a bit.

"Oh yes. Robin mentioned as much to me a few days ago, that she suspected that Lucina would appreciate it, and asked if I would talk to you about it, should it come up." She rolled her eyes. "As if that would come up in random conversation." I shrugged. "My guess is then, that they shall ask you shortly." I nodded a bit.

True to Tiki's word, the pair of them were moving towards us, as everyone had finally given them some space. Lucina seemed quite happy, and even Robin seemed much tense than usual.

"Congratulations, you two." I gave them a bit of a smile, which was returned by both women, and even reached Robin's eyes. "Tiki tells me you have a question?" Robin gave a small eye roll, but nodded none the less.

I think Tiki was the only one who realized that the smile I wore the rest of the day was a just a bit forced, and I was feigning happiness, albeit very well. Robin was much less of her cold calculating self, or at least was ignoring her prodigious ability to know literally everything around her. I did not begrudge her that however, as it was refreshing to see Robin in a manner that was no serious, as well as it was a day that anyone could be forgiven for being a bit out of touch with the world around them.

As the day wound down, I slipped away from the party that obviously was not winding down any time soon. Although I made sure that no one saw me, I swore someone followed me as I slipped up to my room, and true to my thoughts within minutes of closing the door there was a knock.

"Come in." There wasn't much to consider about who was knocking. Only four people ever knocked on my door, and two of them were quite distracted by other things, and the third was preoccupied trying, I suspected to get blackmail material.

The final person slipped in through the door, her expression relatively serene. "Are you alright?"

I gave a small smile. "I'm fine." I replied. "Just a bit over whelmed." To my own surprise, I found I wasn't particularly lying about that. Although I still felt empty, what had been a gaping void had shrunk to something more akin to just loneliness, and even that was passing.

Tiki nodded a bit, giving me a small smile. It was odd, how the manakete had wormed her way into what had become my life. Less than a year had passed since I woke up, in a field, with no idea how I got there, still mourning the death of my wife, and my own actions resulting from it.

Never mind the fact that Tiki had been around less time than that. Granted, we had known each other in the extremely distant past, but none the less, we both had changed in those years. Tiki had lost some of her childlike innocence, and I was far more tired and bitter than I had been back then.

"I'm glad." There was a pause, and a certain tension in the air for a moment. "I-"

Before she went on, I cut her off. "You don't have to apologize for caring Tiki." My tone was soft, and I turned away, glancing out the window towards the setting sun. Again, a silence stretched, before Tiki moved to stand beside me, her steps almost inaudible.

"The last time I watched a sunset was the night after Robin died." Tiki's voice was distant, a tone I recognized from using it myself on occasion. "And it was when I realized that Robin had known what was going to happen all along." There was a pause. "Looking back, the way she was before that battle reminded me a lot of you."

"Of me?" I felt a bit confused. I was used to the comparisons between Lucina and I, which I could understand. It was harder to see the comparison between Robin and me however.

"Yes. She was almost to calm about what was happening, in much the same way you were." There was a pause. "At the time, I didn't realize, but you had accepted the reality that you might die fighting against Medeus, and had made you peace with that fact." I gave a bit of a nod, that much was true. "Robin, when we teleported atop Grima's back to kill him, was far too cold, conveying this sort of determination that none of us understood, except perhaps Lucina."

That, I thought, did sound like me. Caeda had known I didn't really expect to live that final battle out, and when I had survived, had screamed herself hoarse at me, before breaking down crying.

"When Robin told Naga to get us out…" Tiki leaned against my shoulder. "There was a moment when Lucina caught her gaze and I could have sworn she broke inside."

I winced a bit. That was something I did have experience with, especially in the first war, as something similar had happened, and I knew, was how Caeda had figured out I didn't really expect to live out the day. "I'm going to guess however Robin survived, or revived, Lucina was less than amused?"

Tiki gave a bit of a snort. "It supposedly took Lissa the better portion of a week to bring Robin out of her coma, and that is considering that Fell Magic does try and protect Robin." Was the immediate reply.

"Oh." And we were silent again.

That silence stretched on for a while, relatively comfortable, as the sun continued its long descent.

"Thank you." I murmured at last. Tiki almost jumped beside me. She shifted from leaning against my shoulder, to meet my eyes, for a moment, before just smiling.

"You're welcome." Her arms wrapped around me, pulling me into a hug. For the first time in a while, I returned the gesture, reveling it the warmth radiating from her.

When I woke up the next morning, I found myself unable to move. Cracking my eyes open, I was surprised when my vision was obscured by a mass of very familiar green.

Tiki's was curled against my side, her head resting in the middle of my chest, and her hair obscuring my vision.

For a moment, I had a feeling of irrational panic, before a long honed thought process took off. It took me a brief moment to categorize my thoughts, and break down my panic, and shove it off into the far corners of my mind.

"Marth?" Tiki's voice was rather sleepy, and she shifted a bit. "Your heart rate just spiked." There was a pause. "And dropped again just as fast."

I gave a bit of a chuckle. "Old, bad habit." I replied, before elaborating a bit. "A mental exercise that lets me keep my emotions in check in battle." Tiki didn't answer for a long time.

"Only you Marth, only you." She murmured, then fell silent. One of her hands moved, coming to rest over my own. For a time, we stayed like that, before Tiki shifted a bit more, sitting up slowly.

I realized with a bit of surprise that her hair was not in its usual arrangement, instead just falling down around her face. I must have been surprised, for Tiki gave me a question look, and I shook my head a bit.

"Someone awake in there?" Severa's voice drifted from the door. "We're headed out to the sparring fields if you want to join!" There was the sound of footsteps as she headed off.

"As brusque as ever." Tiki shook head a bit, as I sat up.

"It's her way of trying to get even with me for beating her in spars routinely." I shrugged a bit. "She's been wanting to have a shot at a spar with me for a while, and I promised her a spar today." Tiki's lips quirked in amusement.

"Then you probably shouldn't keep her waiting?" She pointed out, standing up, and rolling her shoulders a bit.

With a chuckle, I stood, wincing as my joints protested a bit. "Probably, although I suspect I'm going to want armor, as Severa is quite skilled." I paused a moment. "Well, she isn't as bad as Lucina is."

That drew a laugh from Tiki, who shook her head. "I am woefully inexperienced in swordsmanship, but Lucina is quite terrifying to behold."

As we started down the halls of the castle, I shook my head a bit. "Lucina isn't really all the terrifying, once you realize that she fights by means of a relentless assault, never giving you a chance to attack her. Her offense is broken, it's much easier to stay on an even footing with her."

"You make that sound so easy Marth." It was Cynthia who seemed unusually bouncy. "I've been telling Severa that for years, and it hasn't gotten her anywhere." There was a pause, then a shrewd gaze. "You seem quite happy today."

Lucina's little sister was, despite her personality remarkably perceptive sometimes, and in this instance that was less than helpful.

"Yes." I didn't elaborate, but apparently, I didn't have to, as Cynthia gave a delighted squeal, and scampered off. Taking a sidelong glance at Tiki, it wasn't hard to realize that she was as confused as I.

Our arrival on the fields was heralded by an impatient Severa, who was standing in the center, with her sword already drawn.

"Hurry up, you lazy bum!" She shouted. "You owe me!" Shaking my head in parts of exasperation and parts amusement, I drew Falchion, and moved out onto the field.

"As you wish." I took my stance, waiting. The crowds, as always started gathered, eager to see the results of my latest spar. I was reasonable sure Robin was taking bets already on how fast I'd win.

With a shout, Severa charged, and I settled my mindset for a spar, and lept to meet her. Our blades clashed in a hail of sparks.

Less than a minute later, I stood over Severa, my sword pressed to her collar bone. "You lose." I informed her dryly. She glared a bit at me.

"Bite me." She glared a bit. "Cheating bastard." There wasn't any heat in her words. "And cheating Divine Sword."

"Just admit you suck!" Cynthia's voice drifted from the crowd, to general laughter. Severa rolled her eyes, as I stepped back and helped her to her feet.

"I'd like to see you do any better!" She shot back, and the laughing only increased. Over the heads of the crowd, I swore I saw Robin frown a bit, before our eyes locked. There was a degree of amusement in her gaze, as always, but also Robin seemed unusually unsure, although I had to look hard to see.

"So this is where you disappear to." Robin stepped into the circle of light that Falchion gave off. I arched an eyebrow, finding it highly unlikely that she didn't know where I disappeared off to at nights. "Contrary to the belief I foster, I don't actually know everything that goes on around me."

I chuckled a bit. Logic dictated that Robin couldn't pull off such a feat, she had mastered the art of seeming to have, and reading people so well that she was able to project an air of omnipotence that was hard to shake. "None the less, I find it hard to believe that you truly were that ignorant of where I hid at night."

Robin shrugged, sitting down opposite me. "I never had a reason to go hunting for your nighttime haunts." A ghost of a smile crossed her face. "Besides that, you managed to solve that mess between Cynthia and Severa more effectively than any of us were able to conceive of." There was a pause. "And much faster as well." She sighed a bit. "I know I've said this before, you confused me a lot when you first arrived. There are few times that I find myself so quite lost, yet I have never been more lost." There was a pause. "I haven't seen Tiki quite as happy as she has been lately either."

There was an unusual lack of subtlety in Robin's approach, I noted, with absent surprise. Perhaps I was simply reading too much into her words.

"In an odd sense it feels good to know that I have at least some connection to what was my life." I admitted, trying not to give anything away to Robin. It wasn't a game between us exactly, but it was always interesting to see how much the woman picked up.

Robin hummed in agreement. "What do you know of the day I died Marth?" Robin's tone was soft, and the words coming slow, as if she wasn't sure how to proceed. I frowned. Robin was always the most reclusive about her time in the war, often drifting from the room when the topic came up.

"Not much. Tiki said a bit about it last night. Why?" I asked, meeting the tactician's eyes.

Robin nodded slightly. "It would take me days to explain everything leading up to that day, but the summation was, we had two choices. I could die, and Grima with me, or Grima could simply be sealed."

I hissed through my teeth. That sort of decision was never easy.

"The others I think, never even considered the first option. Lucina and Chrom in particular, discounted it at once." And Robin, I knew, would not have discounted that option. Suddenly, some of Tiki's words from the previous night made much more sense. Robin had gone into that battle planning to die, I realized, with a grimace. "I see you understand."

"Your life is a small sacrifice to give, if the return is that your children never have to worry about such a monster again." Although not exactly in the same situation, it was how I had justified by willingness to die in the final duels with Medeus.

"Exactly." Robin's lips thinned a bit more. "I think, in a sense, Naga took a perverse pleasure in that fact, knowing it I would die. She made no secret that she less than approved of my relationship with Lucina." There was a pause, and I felt like Robin wanted to say more. "I think it didn't help, retrospectively, that I was sort of lying to myself about those same feelings." There was another pause. "When fought, Lucina and I, side by side for the better part of an hour to get to Grima, before the fight with him."

I winced. An hour of constant combat was brutal, even more with a death sentence.

"Naga, I think knew when the game was up for Grima, because I only had to ask before she got everyone out. And stole my cloak." Robin sighed a bit, looking down. "The truth of the matter, Marth, is not that I died." She whispered. "I killed myself. Turned Grima's magic against him, and blew us both out of existence."

I shivered. Goddess, the calm way she talked about it….

"As it stands, I have no idea how I came back, only that there are something things that will really make you realize just how stupid you actually are. And how much you screwed up."

I frowned, processing Robin's words easily. There was a hidden message there, somewhere, the question only was, what it was, and how deep did I have to look for it.

"When I did return, Lucina proceed to put me in a coma for a week." There was a long pause. "Only for Morgan to return me to said coma for a week after that." I chuckled, imaging the usually flighty Morgan attacking her mother in an explosion of spell fire and destruction.

However, something made me pause at that. Robin was not the sort of person to idly tell stories either. There was a point to what she was saying, the question was what?

"I admit, I was not aware it was possible to both kiss someone, and beat them within an inch of their life." Robin mused. "However, Lucina proved herself quite skilled in that regard." With a snort, I considered Robin for a moment. Her face was earnest, another oddity for her, as well as the unusual passion in her eyes.

An inkling of what I was supposed to glean from this situation started to form, but I held my tongue, waiting for Robin to finish.

"My reputation of being someone who likes to speak in riddles is not undeserved." Robin said at last. "And I don't usually give advice that isn't solicited. Listen to yourself Marth." With that, she stood, and vanished from the room in a swirl of lightning.

For a long time, I just stood, watching the stars twinkle in the sky, before I stood, slipping through the castle into my room.

Shrugging out of my armor and tunic, Robin's words continued to echo in my ears. Somehow, Robin just sort of knew what my inner conflict was, and how to offer advice that didn't sound like advice.

There was a knock on the door, and I felt my heart jump. "Come in." I called out, wondering who the hell would be knocking on my door at this time of night. Most of the castle knew that I spent the nights atop the castle roof, watching the stars.

Creaking open, the door admitted Tiki into the room. Her posture was unusually tense, and I felt the urge to hug her, although something told me to wait. She came to a stop beside me, leaning against my shoulder. Acting on impulse, I wrapped an arm around her waist.

The next morning, I awoke again with a mess of green obscuring my vision. This time, however, that instinctive flash of panic did not materialize. Tiki was asleep, I knew at once, from the rhythm of her breathing. One of her hands was entwined with my own.

For a long time, I just lay there, considering the events that had led me to this situation. The words Caeda had spoken, when she thought I was asleep, all those years ago. _Remember how to fall in love again._

Here I was, thousands of years into my own future, still trying to reconcile my execution of my wife's murder and the death of my wife. I had met people who thought I was someone straight out of a legend, and someone had found myself a life here. A place that, relatively speaking, I could belong, until such time as my years were natural expended.

And, against all odds, someone out of my life had stepped from what should have been the grave, as alive, and whole as ever. Of all the people I might have considered meeting thousands of years in the future, Tiki would not have been that person, despite being the person who such a scenario would have made sense with.

Said woman stirred a bit in her sleep, and I stopped, feeling a bit of a smile cross my face. Tiki had seemingly completed the life had discovered for myself here in this time. Ethereally beautiful, the manakete had surprised me utterly when she stepped out into that courtyard, yet now, I found it hard to conceive of any other outcome.

"What has you thinking?" Tiki's voice was a bit bleary, as she stirred once more.

"You." I admitted freely. _Listen to yourself Marth._ I could almost feel Tiki's frown of confusion, and she shifted to be able to look at me. The expression was quite endearing, I noted.

"What about me." There was something guarded about her eyes, I noted, feeling a very different sort of twist I my chest. One I hadn't felt in a long time.

"About how good an idea this is." I leaned forward and kissed her.

As I drew back, there was a moment where I suspected I had just fucked up. Tiki's expression remained guarded, her lips parted just a bit, as though from surprise.

My heart was starting to jump a bit when she leaned forwards, and kissed me in return.

The wave of emotions that crashed over me was nearly crippling. Both my arms slid up, pulling Tiki into a tight embrace, as our kiss deepened. When at last she pulled back a bit, her long hair falling down in such a way as to isolate us from the outside world, I decided time was allowed to just stop on the moment forever.

"So…" she seemed to pause a bit. "Where does this leave us then?" In response I kissed her again, trying to convey my answer that way. As we separated, there was a moment's pause, when Tiki seemed to collect herself, and the usually calm and unflappable manakete seemed quite befuddled. "Oh." She mumbled, collapsing against me.

"Oh." I agreed, smiling a bit. That was not the reaction I had expected, but I was not Robin, and filled with the infallible knowledge of how everyone around me worked. Still, I suspected that reaction to be positive.

Even the knock on the door, someone demanding I come eat breakfast didn't dampen my sudden buoyant mood. Leaving Tiki, who had fallen asleep once again to rest, I slipped from the room, trying not to bounce too much.

Last that day, it was Lucina who found me in a corner of the castle library, my nose buried in a book that I wasn't really reading.

"Marth." I jerked, shaken from my thoughts, to stare up and Chrom's daughter. She seemed much less burdened that some days, I noted.

"Yes?" I found myself confused. It was not the day for our usual spars to the death, so I wasn't sure what Lucina might want.

"Thank you." She sat down in a chair opposite me, her gaze intent. This intent gaze however did not leave me feeling vulnerable, or weak, instead, it was just an intense stare from a woman who had earned her place in the world through war.

"Whatever for?" I enquired.

"Being someone Robin will talk to." Lucina paused. "I knew a long time ago that Robin won't tell me some things that go on in her head, some notion of protecting me, or something." Lucina paused. "But I also know those things eat her alive. So, I thank you, Prince Marth, for being there to listen to my fiancé."

I considered how to respond to Lucina's words. It didn't feel right to accept her thanks, when I knew, especially after my conversation last night, that it was thanks I did not deserve.

"I earned no thanks Lucina." I replied at last. She opened her mouth to protest and I cut her off. "Robin is here because of you." Lucina frowned a bit. "I have stood in Robin's shoes, at once point in my life." I told her, finding it much easier to speak candidly than it had been since Caeda passed. "I was fortunate enough to never have to follow through on my resolution. I didn't have to come to the stark and frightening realization that, despite my best intentions, I screwed up."

Lucina's mouth worked but no words came.

I met her gaze with my own intent stare. "Robin is where she is right now Lucina because she fell in love with you." I spoke softly. "And was willing to die for that love." I took a deep shuddering breath, wondering if I was stepping too far. "Don't thank me for something you did Lucina. You are someone that Robin was willing to do the quite literally impossible to protect." I paused. "Give her time. She will tell you about what happened."

There was a long silence, before Lucina stood, and bowed to me. "Thank you, Prince Marth." She repeated her earlier words, and slipped away. I watched her go, hoping I hadn't just messed up totally and completely.

"That was well handled." The melody of Tiki's voice drifted from the shadows, and she stepped out, giving me a bit of a smile. "You seem to have a knack for getting through to people."

I snorted, moving over a bit as she sat down next to me. "Everyone but myself." I pointed out, my expression wry. Tiki smiled a bit.

"I have it on good authority that you can be a bit dense." She leaned against my shoulder, smiling a bit. "And all is forgiven."

I gave a contented sigh, leaning into the manakete's shoulder, feeling the warmth radiating from her. All was well.

 **AN: This is the conclusion of this story for the moment, although I'm not going to actually mark it as complete, as I intend to add more chapters are time passes, and I'm not consumed with other things... reviews are always appreciated, as are ideas of other things to write!**


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